Pendant lights in living room

[Aqua_expert19]

Hey I’m planning on getting 3 kessil a360we’s to light my 180g and my main concern is with the light bleeding out and making it hard to watch tv or look that way from the couch. From pictures it makes it seem like it would hurt your eyes to be anywhere lower than the light fixture height.

Any feedback or if my concerns are valid or warranted would be awesome!

[mcgyvr]

Your concerns are 100% valid..
Depending on the specific locations and angles it can absolutely be annoying

[Aqua_expert19]

They would be mounted hanging so mounted 90* to the water and probably 6-10 inches off the surface.

[Wiskey]

I have seen tanks setup this way, it's nice that you can easily look down in them, but the light spill would drive me nuts! Plus anyone who gets headaches would never be able to stand it.

I have had a canopy on every tank for this reason. That way the brightest thing is the aquarium itself.

I've seen a couple people that got the best of both worlds by making a canopy with three sides. Basically a canopy with no top or back that is the height of the light and blocks light spill out the front or sides. It slides on and off the tank easily, but blocks the light for normal viewing.

Whiskey

[RCS82]

If you are looking to save the open top look and not do a canopy or some kind of floating canopy to shade the lights, you can easily move the lights forward slightly and angle them a bit so they point back towards the aquarium some. This won't eliminate the problem completely but will help some I believe.

[Aqua_expert19]

The tank is a 180g high tech planted tank. Their is glass canopies on the tank to keep co2 from diffusing out of the tank. Also with my black piranha costing so much I dont want him exiting the tank or for friends to put their hands in the tank. I may have to look at getting / building a canopy if it bothers me enough. My issue with a canopy is i then have to move it every tome i do a water change or anything then making it more of a hastle then its worth.

Hmm i could lower the intensity and go a little lower hopig to still get a good spread / par on the tank. I will controll the lights with my apex.

[Sk8r]

You can get black (or whatever) laminate material and build a light shield, a simple 10" band of thin laminate and pine wood that holds the lights up, and is very light-weight re tank-cleaning.

[Wiskey]

Originally Posted by Aqua_expert19

The tank is a 180g high tech planted tank. Their is glass canopies on the tank to keep co2 from diffusing out of the tank. Also with my black piranha costing so much I dont want him exiting the tank or for friends to put their hands in the tank. I may have to look at getting / building a canopy if it bothers me enough. My issue with a canopy is i then have to move it every tome i do a water change or anything then making it more of a hastle then its worth.

Hmm i could lower the intensity and go a little lower hopig to still get a good spread / par on the tank. I will controll the lights with my apex.

My canopy the top opens up so it is easy to do water changes, but this is a low one for florescent bulbs.

For those lights that you have you would want something quite a bit higher. Normally those would have doors on the front if you are going to make a full canopy. That way you can reach in to feed and do water changes.

Whiskey

[HBtank]

I will always have a canopy, this being one of many reasons. The only setups I like without are simply unpractical, they looks great in pictures and rooms setup for them, but no thanks dealing with it daily.

I find no issues with functionality (and most seem similar with adequate front doors) and only remove mine for major rock/structure changes or to access the overflow/rear.